In the latest Kenshoo Quarterly Trends Report, we share the most recent social advertising insights into ad format performance, year-over-year trends, and the key drivers of the channel’s meteoric growth

If search advertising is the oldest (and best loved) child in the digital family, then social is the youngster, growing rapidly and getting lots of attention. Facebook alone commands 22% of digital spend, and more than 83% of social spend, according to MarketingLand. Facebook and other publishers are innovating at light speed, releasing new ad formats and targeting options to meet advertiser demand. With such a dynamic marketplace you’re likely to see some interesting signals if you dig into the data. The latest Kenshoo Quarterly Trends Report does just that, uncovering the social advertising insights that are driving the channel’s meteoric rise.

Social advertising insights from our Q2 Quarterly Trends Report

Marketers spent 37% more on social ad buys in Q2 of 2019 versus Q2 2018.

While impressions were also up a robust 24%, clicks were actually down 12%. The increasingly popular video and stories ad formats, which are more about branding than direct engagement, are likely behind this drop versus a drop in performance for the channel overall.

CPMs are on the rise, growing 10% year over year 9% quarter over quarter. This increase is largely driven by a surge in spending on dynamic ads for products.

When looking at Instagram specifically, the stories ad format has seen tremendous growth at 186% year over year.

Social video ad spending increased 53% year over year and has remained high since the 2018 holiday season.

The next major step forward for marketers is to better understand how social media can work in tandem with other channels. After all, social media usage is very high with adult internet users around the globe and has the potential to impact almost every purchase decision. For more information on the cross-channel synergy of social, check out our new whitepaper: The Cross-Channel Impact: Social Advertising’s Effect on Search and Amazon. And to learn even more about key digital marketing trends that surfaced in Q2 of this year, check out the Kenshoo Q2 Quarterly Trends Report.